Originally founded in 1999 as sidekick for a few Corvus Corax members, this German band has established themselves firmly as a real band. The name of the band refers to the St. Vitus' Dance, a social phenomenon in Europe between the 14th and 17th centuries. It involved groups of people dancing erratically, sometimes thousands at a time: men, women, and children, dancing until they collapsed from exhaustion, trying to escape the misery of the plague.

One time, the Germans keep their music authentic medieval (e.g. last year’s ‘Eselsmesse’), then again it comes as a mix with rock and metal, like this new offering.

So here they mix metal, rock and electronics with medieval instruments as bagpipes and whistles, while the Germans lyrics are brought in a convincing and weathered way by Teufel. From ominously roaring to acoustically exciting, the atmospheres are diverse, with – as a constant feature -, the lyrics which are surprisingly easy listing. Melancholic ‘Spielzeugland’, threatening ‘Zeittieb’, ‘Ohne Sunde’ made me think of In Extremo, the chasing ‘Spiegelkabinett’, uptempo ‘Bis Der Morgen Graut’ are just a few of my favorites. The result is an intense album which will certainly appeal to those familiar with Subway To Sally. In the luxe edition, you’ll find on an extra CD, alternative versions of six songs.

In fact they present nothing new, but I greedily swallow this in bagpipe drenched slab time and time again!